Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Food, Cooking, and Game Preparation THE FINEST CLAM CHOWDER THAT WILL EVER PASS YOU YOUR LIPS

Ok now that we have done oyster stew it's time for clam chowder. I know at least one of you out there makes his own so the gauntlet is tossed.

Bullwnkl's Finest Clam Chowder:

This is a special dish that ranks up there with venison tenderloin and Cheese cake
First one must dig a bucket of Manilia or Little Neck clams, if you can't get these give up now. Soak the critters in fresh seawater overnight toss in a handfull of corn meal this helps them clean out. Set a pot to boiling... fresh water.Make sure the clams are clean and there are no duds. Be certain they are all alive at this point. For you inlanders when you tap on the shell they will scream a little just hold them up to your ear and listen. Now into the boiling water they go cook them until the shells open then get them into cold water so you may handle them. Pick out the meat and don't forget to take the abductor muscles. It's ok to eat a few but leave some for the chowder.

Now fry up some good bacon about a half cup of crumbled bits or so will do for a stock pot. Chop up fine a medium onion or smaller, too much onion over powers the clams. now for the potatoes !/4 inch chunks nothing bigger. about five or six really good spuds...the kind that still have dirt on then when you buy them....trust me on this one. Not big bakers or yellow or gold varietys my favorite is a spud know as netted jem. peal the spuds and rince clean and a stalk of celery cut up fine. All of this goes into the stock pot add the clams and the water the clams were cooked in pore the clam water slowly as there is usually some grit on the bottom of the pot. Grit in chowder is not pleasent. make sure the fixins are covered in liquid add more cold tap water if necessary. Cook until spuds are done ...real done. It's time now to add at least a qt of Half & Half and a cube of real butter, grind in some black pepper to taste, I like coarse fresh ground and plenty of it. Heat a little while longer until all is hot. Now here is the true secret to clam chowder it is very hard to do but If you are able to do this you will be rewarded with food fit for the gods. Cool the chowder overnight in a shallow pan 2" deep. Reheat the following day and serve with fresh saltine crackers. The hard part is not eating it all up fresh off the stove the first day. GOOD EATEN <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Bullwnkl.

B dub - If I read that recipe again my tongue's gonna be permanently draped outta my mouth. Can't take it!! Stop! Stop now!! Before I throw a can of Progresso through the window!!

Regards, sse

SSE in a pinch you can use canned clams, just don't lose the juice use it in the chowder, makes a passable chowder. And never use corn in chowder that is a hangin offence in most states.

Bullwnkl.

Bullwnkl,

Thanks for the recipe, sounds great!

Of course, for some of us, the really hard part would be NOT eating all of the clams before they made it to the chowder! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Say 358 what kind of clams you dig in Arizona? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Dont spose you have the Texas armadillo slippery neck clam do ya? Them texans have yet to figgure out how to make Chowder with out corn....yuck. Good Eats

Bullwnkl.

Boilwinkl
Shoulda guessed you would overcook our clams, too! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

We get to use razor clams for our chowder and they do not need much cooking time at all. I agree with you on the gritty clams, though. I would far rather not even bother. Corn is in the same boat, but my wife would swat me if I put celery in there.
art

Bullknkl,

That's definatly one of the real "joys" of living in this God-forsaken cat box. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> Seafood is something to be cherised when you find the good stuff!

I grew up in Western New York, so we had pretty good access to seafood. Out here, I'm closer to the Pacific than I was to the Atlantic back there, but other than Mexican style seafood, there's not much around. Just recently discovered that Costco has really nice, small steamer clams, big tiger shrimp, whole salmon, rock lobster tail, mussels, etc. Going to have to get a membership just for those! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Corn in CLAM chowder? That's as bad as putting tomatoes in it. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Sitka I knew you would be the one to use razor clams in clam chowder. that is just wastefull. Man razors are to be fried or eaten raw, but used in chowder, hell man we use horse clams and cockels for chowder before wasting the finest clam around. Of course you guys who make it on down to Clam Gultch, well I suppose you can afford to be wastefull. But you gotta learn to cook man, half cooked clams and oysters is bad for you. Either eat them raw or cook them <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> Yeah I know celery is not everyones favorite in their chowder but it aint corn. Then there is the Goeduck, a clam to rival the razor. The goeduck makes chowed that is hard to tell from octopus and the mighty Goeduck is the mascott of the College I graduated from, Go Fighting Goeducks.

Bullwnkl.

You guys are plumb killing me with your talk of Oyster stew and clam chowder and fresh seafood. You know that don't you. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> You are getting your jollies by tortureing me aren't you? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> If any of you talk about clam chowder in the so called Manhattan style I am planning to declare war!! Talk about a waste of clams.

I had to make Christmas with homemade Tamales from somebody that knows how. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

BCR

Sitka deer - If ya don't stop using that moniker on him he's gonna clam up. Forget you ever read it. The post is close to deletion. You know d*mn well you'd crawl 50 miles on yer belly to eat that chowder! I would.

Regards, sse

SSE, [color:"red"]KEEP CLAM [/color]

BULLWNKL

bull - Easier said (but not spelled) than done.

Regards, sse

P.S. "That's d*mn good chowda" - JFK

Boily
Evergreen?

We don't even bother to pick up a clam if it isn't a razor! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> There are a few beaches with geoducks in the northern end of the Shelikof Strait. Every once in a while we find one on Kodiak.

Between the PSP and the sea otters clams are getting both risky and hard to find on Kodiak. It is amazing the damage the otters do to a clam bed.

Funny thing, the sea ducks are in a huge decline, they eat clams and the sea otters have about gotten them cleaned out. Nobody has suggested it is time to reduce the otter population...

Twenty years ago a sea otter was unusual around Kodiak. A few years back the population peaked close to town and you could easily see hundreds in a day, often hundreds in a single floating mass.
art

Sitka - "Boily"?? I'm beggin ya...

sse
You really think Boily is sensitive? I heard he giggles at the sex scenes in movies, but won't shed a tear for good drama... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> He's <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />!!!
art

Ah Sitka , I mind not the name, it is a term of endearment, but don't let our wives know they make take it all wrong <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Iknow the challenge of trying to better my oyster stew is bothering you so I will be kind and give you credit for the fast food version, McOyster soup. But where do you get artificial oysters? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I tell ya what I will try it your way one day soon and get back to ya. Just dont go changin an add corn that would be the end to end all.

Now Art to change the subject I am having trouble getting an oil finish to preform as I hoped it would over the epoxy on one of my walnut stocks it keeps comming out blotchy. The first one I did was beautiful. How much of the material can I sand off and still have the protection of the epoxy and still get my oil finish. This one is being difficult.

Bullwnkl. The oyster boiler

Boily
Two words... old oil. Get a fresh can of whatever you like and start all over. Just a little "kick" in the polymerization while the can sits is enough to keep it from curing properly. I'm certain you realize that it is not a drying process.

The epoxy coat will be good enough if it looks like it is intact, ie not sanded through. More can be added to the bare spots, sanded and finished over.

I have tried every make and model of oil I can get my hands on and have never had any issues with fresh oil curing exactly right over epoxy. I have seen all of my favorite oils fail when they are too aged... It's easy to detect out-of-date oil, simply ask if they prefer their oysters gently heated or boiled <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />
best to you
art

Ah Ha, the old old oil syndrome, I should have quessed it when I pealed the skum off the top of the jar. That darn overcooked oyster distracted me.

Thanks Art.

Bull....